密歇根新闻广播 高中女运动员将成为脑震荡部分项目研究的对象

This fall, Michigan high schools are testing two different programs for detecting concussions² in high school athletes. 

Girls' sports are getting equal attention.

Earlier this week, Carmen-Ainsworth high school faced off against Kearsley High School in their volleyball season opener.

Anyone who thinks volleyball is not a contact sport hasn't seen a girls high school volleyball game.

Players collide on the court. They fall to the hardwood diving for balls. And of course, players have balls spiked³ at their faces by the opposing team.

It can even be rough in practice.

"We just had a girl fall in tryouts….and hit her head on the ground," says Kearsley H.S. player Karmen Bishoff, "But we've been fortunate enough not to be put into the situation where we have hit our head or collided during a game. But it has come close."

Bishoff and a few of her Kearsley High School teammates say they've never suffered a concussion¹.

But starting this fall, they're subjects in a statewide test.

Kearsley is one of 70 high schools in Michigan testing two new concussion protocols⁴. 

Football has the highest incidence of players suffering concussions. But girls' sports, including soccer, cheerleading and volleyball, also have a significant rate of concussions.

Marjorie Snyder is research director with the Women's Sports Foundation. She says there is not a lot of research on the long term effects of concussions on female athletes.

"A lot of the short term things we know about concussions are certainly frightening in among themselves that we wouldn't want to wait for another 10 or 20 years to see what the long term effects are," says Snyder.

The new protocols involve testing an athlete's cognitive⁵ ability before the season. Then comparing those test results with new tests conducted after a player may have suffered a concussion.

The Michigan High School Athletic⁶ Association organized this year's two concussion pilot tests. The association mandated⁸ that the schools taking part must include an equal number of boys and girls sports.

Jack⁹ Roberts is the association's executive director. He says concussions are an "equal opportunity problem" in sports.

"We're especially concerned about girls' soccer," Roberts cites as an exmaple. "The heading and the head-to-head contact are a concern to us."

Research has shown high school girls soccer players have a higher concussion rate than boys. The same is true for high school basketball. 

U of M researcher Kathryn O'Connor works in the neuro-trauma laboratory. 

She recently published a study on concussions among male and female college athletes.

O'Connor says she's seen a difference between the ways male and female athletes acknowledge concussions, knowing that coaches may put them on the bench if they've had a concussion.

"Males may be more apt to hide symptoms. Knowing that if they are honest and report things they may be held out longer," says O'Connor. "It is definitely something that is in the back of our minds that female athletes have had less time to ‘game' the system or think that they should ‘game' the system."

The new concussion tests may make it more difficult for all athletes to hide concussions.

The pilot testing of the new concussion protocols will continue for the next two years. But there are no plans for the Michigan High School Athletic Association to mandate⁷ the testing in all sports. 

The MHSAA's Jack Roberts says the two pilot programs present a learning experience.

"The schools are going to learn more about concussion detection, to be sure. But so are those developing these systems," says Roberts. "They are going to find out ways they can make them more adaptable¹⁰ to the high school level that doesn't have a lot of medical experts standing¹¹ on the sidelines like the college and professional level would."

That would be helpful to schools that don't have enough trained professionals to be on the sidelines for both boys and girls sports.

1 concussion   

n.脑震荡；震动

参考例句：

• He was carried off the field with slight concussion.他因轻微脑震荡给抬离了现场。
• She suffers from brain concussion.她得了脑震荡。

2 concussions   

n.震荡( concussion的名词复数 )；脑震荡；冲击；震动

参考例句：

• People who have concussions often trouble thinking or remembering. 患脑震荡的人通常存在思考和记忆障碍。 来自互联网
• Concussions also make a person feel very tired or angry. 脑震荡也会使人感觉疲倦或愤怒。 来自互联网

3 spiked   

adj.有穗的；成锥形的；有尖顶的

参考例句：

• The editor spiked the story. 编辑删去了这篇报道。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They wondered whether their drinks had been spiked. 他们有些疑惑自己的饮料里是否被偷偷搀了烈性酒。 来自辞典例句

4 protocols   

n.礼仪( protocol的名词复数 )；（外交条约的）草案；（数据传递的）协议；科学实验报告（或计划）

参考例句：

• There are also protocols on the testing of nuclear weapons. 也有关于核武器试验的协议。 来自辞典例句
• Hardware components and software design of network transport protocols are separately introduced. 介绍系统硬件组成及网络传输协议的软件设计。 来自互联网

5 cognitive   

adj.认知的，认识的，有感知的

参考例句：

• As children grow older,their cognitive processes become sharper.孩子们越长越大，他们的认知过程变得更为敏锐。
• The cognitive psychologist is like the tinker who wants to know how a clock works.认知心理学者倒很像一个需要通晓钟表如何运转的钟表修理匠。

6 athletic   

adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的

参考例句：

• This area has been marked off for athletic practice.这块地方被划出来供体育训练之用。
• He is an athletic star.他是一个运动明星。

7 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

8 mandated   

adj. 委托统治的

参考例句：

• Mandated desegregation of public schools. 命令解除公立学校中的种族隔离
• Britain was mandated to govern the former colony of German East Africa. 英国受权代管德国在东非的前殖民地。

9 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

10 adaptable   

adj.能适应的，适应性强的，可改编的

参考例句：

• He is an adaptable man and will soon learn the new work.他是个适应性很强的人，很快就将学会这种工作。
• The soil is adaptable to the growth of peanuts.这土壤适宜于花生的生长。

11 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。